What is the EngEd?
The Collaborative Specialization in Engineering Education is an interdisciplinary initiative designed for students within home programs in engineering or education who are interested in pursuing courses and research in engineering education. This opportunity allows students to join a small community of scholars interested in research and learning at the nexus of education and engineering practice. Upon successful completion of the requirements of the home department and the specialization, students receive the notation “Completed Collaborative Specialization in Engineering Education” on their transcript.
What courses do I take?
A core course provides students with an introduction to engineering learning, knowledge, assessment, and culture and community, while the theoretical foundations, methods, and topics related to engineering education research are explored in a seminar course.
How does the research work?
Research is supervised by a graduate faculty member in a home department (see below for participating degrees, departments and faculty). Opportunities exist to assess and apply research findings as part of instructional initiatives within the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering.
Current Faculty and Graduate Students
Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry, MASc, PhD
Professor Greg Evans
Professor Emily Moore
Professor Doug Reeve
Civil Engineering, MASc, PhD
Professor Bryan Karney
Professor Heather MacLean
Professor Daniel Posen
Curriculum Studies and Teacher Development, MA, PhD
Professor Clare Brett
Professor Wania Gitari
Professor Doug McDougall
Professor Erminia Pedretti
Professor Jim Slotta
Leadership, Higher Education and Adult Education, MA, MEd, PhD
Professor Ruth Childs
Professor Creso Sá
Professor Stephanie Waterman
Professor Leesa Wheelahan
Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, MASc, PhD
Professor Mark Chignell
Professor Elham Marzi
Professor Susan McCahan
Professor Deborah Tihanyi
Anny Fong | Supervisor - Greg Evans
Exploring emotion recognition ability in the context of undergraduate engineering students.
Anny holds a Master of Engineering in Electrical Engineering, a Master of Business Administration (University of Toronto-Rotman), and a Master of Laws (York University-Osgoode Hall Law School). Her current research interest focuses on emotion recognition ability, particularly in the context of undergraduate students. She is currently pursuing her PhD under the supervision of Dr. Greg Evans.
Dimpho Radebe | LinkedIn | Supervisor - Emily Moore
Deconstructing engineering culture by examining the intersections of engineering education, social justice, and collective wellbeing.
Dimpho Radebe (she/her) is a PhD Candidate in Engineering Education at the University of Toronto. She completed a BASc in Industrial Engineering from UofT, an MSc in Management from the University of Bath, UK, and has several years of professional experience in the public and private sectors in process engineering and project management. Dimpho’s career and research journeys have been motivated by her values and lived experiences. Her research focuses on engineering culture and identity, engineering career paths, decolonization, ethics, equity, and social justice in STEM. She draws on critical race theory and radical black feminism to deconstruct engineering culture and curriculum and imagine inclusive and just futures. Dimpho is passionate about efforts to diversify engineering and encourage transformational culture change that enables engineers with different viewpoints and varying career path interests to thrive. Dimpho enjoys spending time outdoors, trying new foods, engaging in music, art, and dancing, and traveling to different countries.
Anuli Ndubuisi | LinkedIn | Supervisor - Jim Slotta
Anuli Ndubuisi's research investigates how the boundaries that students encounter in global learning settings help them to navigate conflict and engage in productive exchanges.
Anuli Ndubuisi is an engineer, educator, and a researcher with the Encore Lab at the University of Toronto. Anuli has a combined 18 years of experience in the engineering profession, education, and research. Anuli leverages her extensive experience working on global engineering projects in the energy industry to help people build professional and global competencies that are essential for the 21st century global economy.
Anuli’s research is situated at the intersection of global education and learning across boundaries, where boundaries can be seen as unfamiliarities or differences in knowledge, culture and communities of practice. Her study is specifically focused on diverse groups engaged in learning within projects situated in global settings, international contexts, and complex collaboration efforts.
Furthermore, Anuli’s passion for inclusivity motivates her to explore various ways to support diverse students to improve post secondary experiences, gain access to graduate studies, leverage research opportunities and participate in global learning experiences.
Elizabeth DaMaren | LinkedIn | Supervisor - Alison Olechowski
Investigating student engagement and equity considerations in computer-aided design group learning settings.
Liz DaMaren is a third-year PhD student with Dr. Alison Olechowski in Ready Lab. Her research uses mixed-methods approaches to investigate student engagement and equity considerations in computer-aided design (CAD) education, towards the goal of creating more accessible, inclusive, and effective CAD curricula. She received a Bachelor of Mechatronics Engineering & Society with an Interdisciplinary Minor in Sustainability from McMaster University and worked for Engineering Deans Canada doing project management work for the Engineering Collaboration for Online and Remote Education (E-CORE/CIEL) project during the pandemic before starting her graduate studies at UofT. In her spare time you’ll find her baking, canoeing, or planning her next outdoors trip.
Amin Azad-Armaki | LinkedIn | Supervisor - Emily Moore
Empowering future engineering leaders and entrepreneurs through the application of Systems Thinking methodologies.
Amin is a Ph.D. student at ISTEP, pursuing a collaborative specialization in Engineering Education. His research falls into the intersection of Entrepreneurship, Systems Thinking, and Engineering Education. More preciously, he focuses on the learning outcomes of teaching Systems Thinking to Engineering students and its application in entrepreneurship. Outside academia, he worked as an entrepreneur and as a consultant to large tech companies. Amin’s hobbies include exploring the outdoors, trying new food, and traveling.
Greg Litster | LinkedIn | Supervisor - Emily Moore & Patricia Sheridan
My research investigates design cognition during the early problem framing stages of the design process.
Greg is a doctoral student at the University of Toronto’s Department of Chemical Engineering, pursuing a collaborative-specialization in Engineering Education under the supervision of Dr. Emily Moore and Dr. Patricia Sheridan. Greg’s research is focused on design cognition. He is interested in understanding what impact teamwork has on design problem framing and outcomes in engineering teams. Greg obtained his MASc in Management Science (2022) and BKI (Bachelor of Knowledge Integration - 2020) both from the University of Waterloo.
Khadija Rana | LinkedIn | Supervisor - Emily Moore and Emma Master
System mapping how bio-products are developed in Ontario's bio-economy, with government and industry partners.
Khadija Rana is an MASc student at the Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry. She is co-supervised by Professor Emily Moore at ISTEP, and Professor Emma Master at BioZone. Their research uses a systems thinking approach to illustrate Canada’s circular bioeconomy and identify ways that engineers contribute to socially just and sustainable global development. She is curious about how engineers build a shared understanding of complex systems in partnership with community stakeholders. Khadija completed her BASc in the Engineering Science program, during which she received the Troost ILead Difference Maker Award for her leadership and service to the UofT Engineering community. In her spare time, she enjoys swimming, reading, acrobatics, and volunteering!
Jessica Li, P.Eng | LinkedIn | Supervisor - Emily Moore and Elham Marzi
Understanding leadership development within engineering professional services firms.
Jessica is a Professional Engineer currently pursuing her PhD with Troost ILead and the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering. Under the co-supervision of Dr. Emily Moore and Dr. Elham Marzi, Jessica's research explores how leadership is contextualized in professional services firms, and how organizations can support leadership development in their staff. Jessica holds a B.A.Sc in Chemical Engineering from the University of Toronto and previously worked as an engineering consultant in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries for eight years.
Saskia van Beers | LinkedIn | Supervisor - Cindy Rottmann
I am interested in the extent to which Canadian engineers believe their social location has influenced their education and career, as well as how Canadian engineers are able to reflect on equity, diversity, and inclusion in the context of their work.
Saskia van Beers (she/her) is a current MASc. student studying engineering education under the supervision of Dr. Cindy Rottmann. She holds a BASc in Engineering Science from the University of Toronto. While her undergraduate academic focus was on biomedical engineering and public health, it was her extracurricular journey working in equity and accessibility promoting spaces and teams that motivated her graduate studies work. Previously, her undergraduate thesis examined systemic obstacles Canadian engineers face when trying to earn their professional engineering license. Her MASc research focuses on understanding how Canadian engineers reflect on the impact that their social location has had on their career. When she isn’t on campus, she enjoys watching live theater, playing board games, and exploring the city through geocaching.
Nikita Dawe | LinkedIn | Supervisor - Lisa Romkey and Amy Bilton
Mixed methods alumni research to find out how STEM programs can promote beneficial lifelong learning dispositions.
My engineering education research investigates how undergraduate engineering programs prepare alumni to be lifelong learners in the context of their careers. This work is part of the Division of Engineering Science’s Realigning Outcomes with Learning Experiences (ROLE) project. I am a PhD candidate in Industrial Engineering and also teach engineering design and communication courses.
Tamara Kecman | Supervisor - Susan McCahan
Developing a method to assess which engineering skills are most exposed to artificial intelligence.
I am pursuing a PhD in industrial engineering with a collaborative specialization in engineering education. I am supervised by Susan McCahan, and we are currently researching how exposed engineering curricula is to current and future applications of artificial intelligence (AI). I also have a passion for teaching and enjoy being a teaching assistant for various classes throughout my degree.
Programs
Admission Requirements
Applicants must be admitted to a participating graduate unit and comply with the admission procedures of that unit before applying to the Collaborative Specialization in Engineering Education.
Students may then submit the following to the EngEd administrator:
- A completed Registration Form
- A curriculum vitae (CV)
- A personal statement explaining how their program of study and specific research interests relate to engineering education
- A letter of recommendation from a faculty member confirming their willingness to supervise and support the student’s research and outlining why the student would be well suited for the Engineering Education Collaborative Specialization
Specialization Requirements
Students must satisfy the requirements of both the home degree program and the graduate unit.
Students must complete a total of 0.5 full‐course equivalents (FCEs) as follows:
- The core course: TEP 1204H (formerly APS 1204H) - Instructional Design in Engineering Education (0.5 FCE)
- Continuous participation in a seminar series: TEP 1205Y (formerly APS 1205Y) (CR/NCR) (0 FCE)
Students must undertake the major paper or thesis required by the home degree program with a focus on engineering education under the supervision of a collaborative specialization core faculty member.
Admission Requirements
Applicants must be admitted to a participating graduate unit and comply with the admission procedures of that unit before applying to the Collaborative Specialization in Engineering Education.
Students may then submit the following to the EngEd administrator:
- A completed Registration Form
- A curriculum vitae (CV)
- A personal statement explaining how their program of study and specific research interests relate to engineering education
- A letter of recommendation from a faculty member confirming their willingness to supervise and support the student’s research and outlining why the student would be well suited for the Engineering Education Collaborative Specialization
Specialization Requirements
Students must satisfy the requirements of both the home degree program and the graduate unit.
Student must complete a total of 1.0 full‐course equivalents (FCEs) as follows:
- The core course TEP 1204H (formerly APS 1204H) - Instructional Design in Engineering Education (0.5 FCE)
- An elective course in engineering education (0.5 FCE); see the elective course list
- Continuous participation in a seminar series: TEP 1206Y (formerly APS 1206Y) (CR/NCR) (0 FCE)
- PhD students will attend the seminar series in Year 1, deliver a seminar on their research topic in Year 2, and design and deliver one or more instructional workshops in their final year, in addition to making a final presentation on their research
Students must complete the major paper or thesis required by the home degree program with a focus on engineering education under the supervision of a collaborative specialization core faculty member.
Where a student has completed the core course TEP 1204H (formerly APS 1204H) at the master’s level, the student will complete an alternate elective course (see elective course list) approved by the collaborative specialization Director.